Player-piano-roll centralizer



J. F. LAUDA.

PLAYER PIANO ROLL CENTRALIZER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3. 1920.

1,397,255, Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH F. LAUIDA, OF RAGINE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FIFTH TO SCOTTPLAYER ACTION ('30., OF RAOINE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS,AND FOUR-FIFTHS TO THE NORTHERN TRUST COMPANY, TRUSTEE, OF CHI- CAGO,ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

Application filed January 3, 1920.

T 0 all whom may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH F. LAUDA, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Racine, in the county of Racine and State of isconsin, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Player-Piano-Roll Centralizers,of which the following is a description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in player piano rollcentralizers.

In the ordinary player pianos, the player roll is mounted on therotarypart of the piano player action and the end portion of the paper recordof the roll is extended over the tracker bar and connected to the windinroll preparatory to startin to play. hen thus arranged the rolls .areboth shifted endwise, manually by levers adjacent the keys, to properlyposition the perforations of the sheet with relation to the perforationsof the tracker bar. This ad justment requires an extra lever andconnections extending to the keyboard of the instrument and thenecessary work in adjusting the same. The adjustment is-not alwayscorrectly made with the result that the tracker bar perforations arepartly overlapped by the paper. and the full volume of sound is notproduced.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to overcome the beforementioned objectionable features .and provide a player piano rollcentralizer which will automatically position the record roll withrelation to the perforations of the tracker when said roll is placed inthe piano and also with relation to the winding roll to prevent injuryto the edge portions of the record in winding or unwinding.

A further object of the invention is to provide a player piano rollcentralizer in which the mechanism for alining the player roll willremain in open position to permit the insertion of the roll and whichwill 'aline the roll when thewinding roll starts to unwind the recordsheet from the player roll.

A further object of the invention is to provide a player piano rollcentralizer in which automatic and pneumatic means are provided foractuating the centralizing mechanism.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 15, 1921. Serial No. 349,229.

A further object of the invention is to provide a player piano rollcentralizer which is of simple construction, is strong and the rable andis well adapted for the purpose described.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of theimproved player piano roll centralizer and its parts and combinations assetforth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawing in which the same reference charactersindicate the same parts in all of the views:

Figure 1 is a front view of the improved roll centralizer shown attachedto the roll mechanism of a player piano, portions of the mechanism beingshown in section;

Fig. 2 is a top view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view thereof tal'zen on line 3-3 ofFig. 1;

F 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line l i of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

taken on line. 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view of parts shown in Pig.

Referring to the drawing the numeral 10 indicates the portion ofa playerpiano which contains the player roll mechanism and which comprises thewinding roll 11, the transmission mechanism 12, the record roll 13 andthe record roll idle spindle 14 and the driving spindle 15. The recordroll and the winding roll are positioned within the roll chamber lowhichcomprises opposite end walls 17 and 18, a top and bottom wall 19 and arear wall 20. The winding roll spindle 21 extends through the oppositeend walls of the roll chamber 16 and is connected to the transmissionmechanism in the usual manner. Said transmission mechanism is alsoconnected to the driving spindle 15 by a rewind sprocket chain and wheel22 which is controlled by a lever and rod 23.

An inverted U-shaoed rod 24 longitudinally slidably mounted on t 19 hasits opposite end portions depending downwardly therefrom at the outerend portions of the record roll spindles 1-1 and 15 and in longitudinalalinement therewith. The depending end portion 25 is of tubular ne upperwall ig. 6 is detail vertical sectional view coiled spring 25 bears.

, end portion of the bearing,

in thebearing and surrounds the-reduced portion of the spindle and isinterposed between the spindle shoulder and the outer whichis" of adiameter to fit the reduced portion of the spindle, and holds saidspindle yieldingly in its inner position. A collar 26 mounted on theouter end or" said spindle 14 limits the inward movement with rela tiontojthe rod 24. The opposite end portion27' of therod 24 is flattened andengages the outer end'of the driving spindle 15. The inner ends or thesetwo alined spindles enter recesses 28 in the record roll and the innerend of the driving spindle is formed with a tooth 15 which locks thespindle to the roll and causes the roll to rotate with the spindle.

The rod'24isslilably mounted on the.

top wall 19 in bearings 29 and 29 and the bearing'29 is verticallypivotally' mounted on the top wall by a pivot pin 28 and is providedwith rearwardly extending arm to which is attached the end of a'connecting link or rod 3O. The opposite end of the link 30 is pivotallyconnected to an 'arm'31which is mounted on and extends upwardly from'the hinged member 32 of" a bellows33. The inner or fixed portion ofthe'bello'ws'is connected in spaced relation to the end wall 17 by upperand lower brackets 34. A. spring 35 normally holds the bellows in openposition. 7

When the bellows is in open position as shown, the link 30 will bepushed ;to the right and turn the bearing 29 in a position to clamptheU-shaped rod 24 against longitudinal movement, as shown in Fig. 2,tojprevent endwise movement of the record rol-l while rewinding.

Two" angled centralizer members 36 are sli'dahly mounted onthe upperwall 19 and their end portions 36" extend downwardly through openings 37in said wall and surround the record roll spindles 14 and 15. The upperpo'rtionis of said 'centralizer memare o'fise't longitudinally from eachother and at their, inner upper ends are pivotally connected throughshort links 38 to the outer end'portions 'of alever' 89 which ismediallyfulcrumed on the'upperwall 19 and extends at approximately rightangles to the lc'entr'a'lizer members 36. .A controlling linker rod 40is connected at one end to one end'of the lever'39 and at its oppositeend is connected man arm 41 mounted 0a and extendin'gupwardly team thehinged and extends slidably inwardly Said springis with the opening ofThe passageways member 32 of the bellows so that when the hinged bellowsmember is moved inwardly to closed position thelink40'will moveoutwardly and through-the lever 39 while drawing the depending portions36 of the centralizer members against the ends of the-record roll, asindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and thus automatically centralizesaid roll with relation to the per- :torations of the tracker bar 42. Inmoving to 'centralp'os'ition the U-shaped bar 24 will be released by theclamping bearing 7 29 and said bar will be free to move with the recordroll andits spindles 14 and 15.

In order to control the movements of the parts described automaticallyand pneumatiis in communication with the. open air through a tube 47 andvalve 54 and which tube extends to a position adjacent the end of thewinding-roll farthest from the bellows.

The other compartment 44'is in communi cation with the vacuum creatingmechanism (not shown) of the piano by a tube 48. Within the valvechamber is positioned a partition'48 having a valve 49 which bearsagainst the diaphragm 4'6 and is controlled thereby. The said valve 49opens communi cation between the compartment 44 other compartment 50incommunication with the bellows33- through apassageway. 51. L'Anotherpassageway 52 connects the and ancompartment 50 with the outside air andis controlled by an'e'xtension valve 53 forming partv ofthe valve 49 andmoving therewith.

The outer end of' the tube 47 is closed by a valve 54 which is mountedon theinner end of two part controlling lever 55[ Said controlling leveris fulcrumed on the rear wall 16 and. its longer and heavier'end portion'56 extends over and travels inthe grooved portion 11 of the windingroll 11; The end 56" of the controlling lever is curved upwardly to morefreely ride in the 1 groove and on therecord roll paper '57. to whichthe tubes 47 and 48 are connected are in communication with eachothe'r'by a small lead passageway 47 V which eliminates'the'vacuum inthe compartments 43 and 44 when the valve' 54 is in open position.

In operation the "record roll is mounted between-the spindles and theend'of the rec- 0rd is connected to the winding roll in the ordinarymanner. In thisposition the end ofthecontrollinglever 55 restsinthegroove V 1 1 andthevalve54 is in open-position. The piano .isnowoperated to rotate the winding froll and as soon as'the record rollsheet winds around the winding roll it will pass beneath the end of 'thelever 55 and lift it from the roller groove andclose the valve 54 overthe pipe 47. When thus closed the vacuum of the tube 48 will exhaust theair from the compartments 43 and 44 and open the valve 49 and close thevalve 53. When the valves are thus positioned the air will be exhaustedfrom the bellows and the hinged portion of the bellows will be forced toclosed position by atmospheric pressure. The hinged member in closingwill draw the centralizer members together and centralize the recordroll. Simultaneously with this movement the bearing 29 will be turned torelease the U-shaped rod 24 and permit said rod and the spindlesto befreely moved longitudinally.

lVhen the transmission is changed to rewind the record roll and whensaid roll is rewound the lever 55 will drop into the roller groove 11and swing the valve 54 to open position. When in open position thecentralizer arms will be moved to open position by the spring of thebellows and the record roll may be freely removed and anothersubstituted therefor.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the rollcentralizer is well adapted for the purpose described.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The combination with a player piano having a tracker bar and aremovable rec- 0rd roll and a winding roll, of a roll centralizing meanstherefor, comprising automatically controlled pneumatic means controlledby the winding roll'for moving the record roll longitudinally to alinedposition with relation to the tracker bar.

2. The combination with a player piano having a tracker bar and aremovable record and a winding roll, of a roll centralizing meanstherefor, comprising spindles between which the record roll is mounted,and pneumatic means controlled by the winding roll for moving thespindles endwise to aline the record roll with relation to the trackerbar.

3. The combination with a player piano having a tracker bar and aremovable record roll and a winding roll, of a roll centralizing meanstherefor, comprising endwise movable spindles between which the recordroll is mounted, one of said spindles being yieldingly movable endwise,means for causing both spindles to move endwise simultaneously andthereby moving the record roll endwise to aline with the tracker bar,and means engaging the winding roll for automatically controlling thespindle moving means.

4. The combination with a player piano having a tracker bar and aremovable record roll and a winding roll having an annular groove, of aroll centralizing means therefor, comprising endwise movable spindlesbetween which the record roll is mounted, means for causing bothspindles to move endwise simultaneously, and thereby moving the recordroll to a centralized position with relation to the tracker bar, and amenber controlled by the movement of the grooved portion of the windingroll for controlling the movement of the record roll moving means.

5. The combination With a player piano having a tracker bar and aremovable record roll and a winding roll having an annulargroove, of aroll centralizing means therefor, comprising endwise movable spindlesbetween which the record roll is mounted, means for causing bothspindles to move endwise simultaneously and thereby moving therecordroll to a centralized position with relation to the tracker bar, saidmeans including a bellows, and a valve controlled by the rotation of thegrooved portion of the winding roll for controlling the movement of thebellows.

6. The combination with a player piano having a tracker bar and aremovable rec- 0rd roll and a winding roll having an annular groove, ofa roll centralizing means therefor, comprising endwise movable spindlesbetween which the record roll is mounted, a U-shaped member slidablymounted on the piano and engaging both spindles, one of said spindlesjournaled and endwise yieldingly movable in said U-shaped memher, abellows having a movable portion connected to the U-shaped member, apair of centralizer members movable by the bellows toward and away fromthe record roll for controlling the position of the record roll.

7. The combination with a player piano having a tracker bar and awinding roll and a removable record roll with a strip record thereon, ofa roll centralizing means therefor, comprising spindles between whichthe record roll 1s mounted, a U-shaped member slidably mounted on apiano part and having angular extending portions which engage thespindles, one of said spindles being journaled and longitudinallyyieldingly mounted in one of the angular portions, a pair ofcentralizingmembers movable to engage opposite end portions of a record roll mountedbetween the spindles and move said roll to a central position, a leverfulcrumed' on the piano and pivoted to both centralizing members, abellows mounted on a piano part and having its movable part connected tothe lever, a clamping bearing connected to the U-shaped member and tothe movable portion of the bellows, vacuum means controlling themovement of the bellows, a valve controlling the vacuum means, and alever for, moving said valve and which lever rides in the annular grooveof the 8. The combination with a player piano having a tracker bar and awinding" roll 7 which engage the spindles, one of said spindles beingjournaled and longitudinally yieldingly mounted in one of the angularPOIUOIIS, a pair of centralizlng members movable to engage-opposite endportlons of a record roll mounted between the spindles and move saidroll to ai'central position, a lever 'fulcrumed on the piano and pivotedto "both centralizing members, abellows mount 7 part connected to thelever, a clamping beared onva piano part and having its movable ingconnected to the U-shaped member and to the movable portion of thebellows, vacuum means controlling the movement of the bellows, a valvechamber mounted on the bellows, valves within said chamber forcontrolling the passage of air into and from the bellows, a tube leadingfrom said valve chamber to a position adjacent the annular groove of thewinding roll, a valve controlling the passage of air through said tube,and a two part lever for moving said tube valve and which lever rides inthe annular groove of the winding roll and is moved outwardly by .therecord sheet winding on the roll and covering said groove.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature. i

" JOSEPH F. LAUDA.

